Catherine Quirk, PhD
@catherinequirk.bsky.social
1.2K followers 300 following 130 posts
Dog mum. Senior Lecturer in Drama. Coffee lover, writer, actor, director, (digital) theatre historian, Victorianist. Language learner. Likes &c my own. she/her. 🌈
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catherinequirk.bsky.social
Today an actor told me that they’d felt safe as a queer person in my rehearsal room when they hadn’t been used to feeling that way. And honestly that’s the biggest win I’ll ever have in my entire career.

Thank you to all who came to our Frankenstein: I hope you felt just as safe with us!
A group of actors on a stage, enthusiastically cheersing
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
ehunineteen.bsky.social
We are delighted to announce the first seminar in our 25/26 series: the wonderful @drreznicek.bsky.social will be presenting on ‘Too Bodily: Disability, Care, & Belonging in Romantic Novels’ on Wednesday 29th October at 6pm.

Free! Online! All welcome!

Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
This is a sneak preview of our poster image as we finalise details - it’s a coloured etching by Thomas Rowlandson after G M Woodward from 1801 called ‘The Quack Doctor’s Prayer’ with a kneeling doctor praying over a box with a duck drawn on it. In the background there’s a candelabra and pink hangings.
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
robertamock.bsky.social
You can read 'Caryl Churchill's Eco-Socialist Feminism' by Elaine Aston (published by Cambridge University Press) for free online until 22 October:

www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Cover of Cambridge Elements title: Caryl Churchill's Eco-Socialist Feminism by Elaine Aston
catherinequirk.bsky.social
Spoilers from the upcoming film adaptation, a sequel to the recent Wuthering Heights (50 More Shades of Brontë) 😏
catherinequirk.bsky.social
Fascinatingly, most of the things in the replies to this are…things I’ve not seen 😂
hannahfearn.bsky.social
Inspired by a post I just saw in which someone admitted they hadn’t seen a single episode of Friends nor the film Love Actually… what cultural hole do you have that’s a bit weird for your generation?

I’ll go first: I haven’t seen Dirty Dancing.
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
marcusjdl.bsky.social
When it comes to intimidating racist protests including outside our homes or place of worship, Black and Asian people are supposed to just accept it and the government saying “we hear you” and “it is right to protest this” and “I love flags me”. No thought of “cumulative impact” for us!
peterwalker99.bsky.social
NEW: Home Office announces planned new anti-protest powers, mainly aimed at pro-Gaza protests like those for Palestine Action. Police will be able to consider the "cumulative impact" of repeated protests and potentially order that they be relocated.
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
cristinalalfar.bsky.social
The English Department at Hunter College, CUNY is very happy to announce a Tenure Track position in #Medieval British Literature at the Assistant Professor level. Applications from scholars in interdisciplinary and/or global approaches are especially encouraged to apply.

cuny.jobs/new-york-ny/...
Jobs | City University of New York
cuny.jobs
catherinequirk.bsky.social
I wonder if Carney had to crowd-fund his trip to the Women’s Rugby World Cup final, or if it was just the team who needed to do that…? 😒
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
ingridm.bsky.social
ChatGPT Edu is built for conning education executives into subsidising and edu-washing planet-burning slop machines via non-consensual access to young people’s creativity AND DATA while attacking their ability to learn. At a university.
ox.ac.uk
NEW: Oxford will be the first UK university to give all staff and students free ChatGPT Edu access, from this academic year.

ChatGPT Edu is built for education, with enhanced privacy and security.
Graphic from the University of Oxford, featuring an image of a glowing, digital brain with the text: 'Generative AI at Oxford'. Highlights that ChatGPT Edu is now available to all staff and students. Includes a link for more information: ox.ac.uk/gen-ai
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
profsarahparker.bsky.social
Michael Field in Context (Cambridge University Press) is out today! I'm so excited that this volume is finally out in the world. It features 35 chapters on so many different aspects of Michael Field's lives and work. Find out more/order for your library here: www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
mskellymhayes.bsky.social
Every day, I find myself wishing that our new book, Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Organizers in Crisis, was already out in the world, because I think it could really help people right now. Preorders really make all the difference in terms of helping a book become widely available.
Read This When Things Fall Apart by Kelly Hayes | Pilsen Community Books
Letters to Activists in Crisis
www.pilsencommunitybooks.com
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
mariellebirks.com
Battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life

The smell of firewood from a log burner on a quiet evening
The comfort of a soft sweater
The sound of a gentle sea
Finding you have twenty minutes when you thought it was ten
Coming home to your dog
catherinequirk.bsky.social
battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:

-the little sigh as a dog puts their sleepy head on your knee
-the first bar of the overture in a hushed theatre
-discovering the coffee pot still has another cup in it
-rereading a good book
-the smell of a fireplace on a crisp autumn day
drbeard79.bsky.social
battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:

first sip of coffee
picking up a conker, cool and soapy in your hand
geese honking overhead
leaves changing colour: green, yellow, red
debating when to put the heating on

(I really like autumn, ok)
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
kierisi.bsky.social
battle doom scrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:

- the sound of my grumpiest cat snoring
- finding bees sleeping in the garden
- a whole saturday spent reading
- the first swipe of charcoal on a blank page
- the colors of autumn against a bright blue sky
catherinequirk.bsky.social
battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:

-the little sigh as a dog puts their sleepy head on your knee
-the first bar of the overture in a hushed theatre
-discovering the coffee pot still has another cup in it
-rereading a good book
-the smell of a fireplace on a crisp autumn day
drbeard79.bsky.social
battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:

first sip of coffee
picking up a conker, cool and soapy in your hand
geese honking overhead
leaves changing colour: green, yellow, red
debating when to put the heating on

(I really like autumn, ok)
catherinequirk.bsky.social
battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:

-the little sigh as a dog puts their sleepy head on your knee
-the first bar of the overture in a hushed theatre
-discovering the coffee pot still has another cup in it
-rereading a good book
-the smell of a fireplace on a crisp autumn day
drbeard79.bsky.social
battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:

first sip of coffee
picking up a conker, cool and soapy in your hand
geese honking overhead
leaves changing colour: green, yellow, red
debating when to put the heating on

(I really like autumn, ok)
drreznicek.bsky.social
battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:

Reading books
Writing about books
Homemade cookies
Dog walks
Woolly jumpers
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
methuendrama.bsky.social
Are you an early career researcher, based in the UK, looking to get published? The Bloomsbury Academic Writing Fellowship, in partnership with @writersandartists.bsky.social, may be for you.

Applications now open until 1st October 👉 https://bit.ly/4nd2sBp
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
artsemergency.bsky.social
Be generous. Now be more generous. Share your privilege.

We need creative professionals to step up & volunteer to mentor a young person who doesn't have the connections or financial backing to believe they could access a creative career.

Sign up to mentor in 2026 👉 www.arts-emergency.o...

The Arts Emergency manifesto - a pink background with statements written in alternative colours - red and blue reading:
There are things that are bigger and better than money. We have things that those in power will never understand.
We take it as a given that a civilised society values education, lifelong learning and creativity as a public good.
We are a social justice not social mobility organisation. Arts Emergency is no substitute for justice withheld.
Fight the conditioning that tells you to demonise young people.
Be fearless. You are just as entitled as anyone to have the life you want.
There is no recession of the imagination.
The future is another place. Allow yourself to believe a better life is possible. Say it loud, defiantly, to everyone.
Be generous. Now be more generous. Share your privilege.
Do something. Start small, start local, keep going.
Optimism is a weapon and if all else fails be silly.
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
norajw.bsky.social
New rules: if you can't pass a Life in the UK test on the first go, you don't get to talk about immigration.

If you wouldn't cheerfully pay twice for the NHS (your taxes + healthcare surcharge), you don't get to talk about immigration.
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
ronaldhartz.bsky.social
Unfunded hobbyist researchers of the world, unite!
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
bars.bsky.social
New video out on our TikTok page about Chloe’s trip to see Frankenstein: The Musical (directed by @catherinequirk.bsky.social) at Edge Hill University last month: vm.tiktok.com/ZNdqGJcBf/
TikTok - Make Your Day
vm.tiktok.com
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
'Nigel Farage has hit out at universities for “poisoning the minds” of students with what he said was a “twisted interpretation of history” in his speech on the opening day of the Reform UK conference.' 1/3
Universities ‘poisoning student minds’, says Farage
Populist leader takes aim at higher education in speech on first day of the Reform UK conference in Birmingham
www.timeshighereducation.com
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
jasongarcia.bsky.social
“LAW AND ORDER” he screamed as a he nailed up yet another makeshift edict declaring another form of protest illegal without so much as a statutory citation
jasongarcia.bsky.social
The Free State of Florida is now trying to ban *sidewalk chalking*
Reposted by Catherine Quirk, PhD
devenparker.bsky.social
Glasgow pals, check out my new exhibition at the Mitchell Library on c19 theatre, empire, and celebrity! On display thru October. I'm also giving a talk at the Mitchell on race and c19 theatre on October 4 😊 www.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/exhi...
Exhibition: Performing 19th Century Glasgow: Nation, Celebrity, Empire - Glasgow Life
Exhibition on Glasgow Theatres
www.glasgowlife.org.uk